July 19, 2017 5:49 PM

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced the establishment of a Joint Task Force with Israel designed to enhance cooperation and intelligence sharing in the global fight against terrorism following a historic meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a summit of the Visegrád Group on July 18.

Members of the Joint Task Force will include Hungary, Israel, and fellow Visegrád Group (V4) countries Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Speaking to reporters, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán said that leaders of the V4 had accepted the Israeli Prime Minister’s invitation to visit Israel and that additional information regarding the function and operation of the task force will be released soon.

Prime Minister Orbán also praised Israel and the V4’s shared emphasis on the critical importance of defending external borders to limit the risks of terrorism, adding that the free flow of persons across borders without checks or controls clearly heightens the risk of terrorism.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán pledged to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Visegrád countries will continue to urge the European Union to appreciate the efforts made by Israel towards assuring European security and the long-term stability of the Middle East.

Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked Hungary for its reaffirmation of Israel’s right to defend itself and, reminding the EU that Israel is a bastion of European and Western values in the Middle East, called for a redefinition of relations between Israel and the European Union.